I have just finished The Chemistry of Death by Simon Beckett which is a good old fashioned police procedural, the only caution being is not to read the early chapters of this if you suffer from queasiness!

Blurb

Finding refuge in a quiet rural backwater, Dr David Hunter hoped he might at last have put the past behind him. But then they found what was left of Sally Palmer…
It isn’t just that she was a friend that disturbs him. Once he’d been a high-profile forensic anthropologist and all too familiar with the many faces of death, before tragedy made him abandon this previous life. Now the police want his help. But to become involved will stir up memories he’s long tried to forget. Then a second woman disappears, plunging the close-knit community into a maelstrom of fear and paranoia. And no one, not even Hunter, is exempt from suspicion. Amazon

I am now reading The Unseeing by Anna Mazzola which I’ve seen stunning reviews for so I’m delighted it has finally reached the top of my pile. This book seems to have it all, a historical crime for fans of Sarah Waters and a book full of secrets and hidden desires!

Blurb

Set in London in 1837, Anna Mazzola’s THE UNSEEING is the story of Sarah Gale, a seamstress and mother, sentenced to hang for her role in the murder of Hannah Brown on the eve of her wedding. Perfect for any reader of Sarah Waters or Antonia Hodgson.

After Sarah petitions for mercy, Edmund Fleetwood is appointed to investigate and consider whether justice has been done. Idealistic, but struggling with his own demons, Edmund is determined to seek out the truth. Yet Sarah refuses to help him, neither lying nor adding anything to the evidence gathered in court. Edmund knows she’s hiding something, but needs to discover just why she’s maintaining her silence. For how can it be that someone would willingly go to their own death? Amazon

Next up I plan to read Pariah by David Jackson, regular followers of this blog will know how impressed I was with the first in a new series by this author; A Tapping at my Door, and so now I’m starting with book one of The Detective Callum Doyle Series.

Blurb

Where can you turn when your very presence brings death to those around you?

That’s the question Detective Callum Doyle is about to face. It begins with the calculated murder of his partner on a vacant lot. But more death is to follow, and when the chilling anonymous messages arrive, Doyle is left in no doubt that this is about him.

You cannot go near your friends, your colleagues, or even your family. Because if you do… they will be killed.

To save others, Doyle is forced to cut himself off from society. But with the investigation getting nowhere and his isolation becoming unbearable, Doyle has to ask himself how much he’s willing to sacrifice to get his life back. Amazon

Have you read any of these? Do you want to?

Let me know what you are reading this week by adding your comments or leaving your link below.

I’m glad you enjoyed The Chemistry of Death, Cleo. The next book in the series, Whispers of the Dead is also a fine read. The Unseeing looks really very interesting, too. I do enjoy those historical crime stories, and I’ll be interested in what you think of it.

I like the look of the Anna Mazzola book – even though I’m not always in the mood for historical crime fiction. I haven’t heard of the other two!
I’ve just finished reading The Narrow Bed by Sophie Hannah – part of her Culver Valley series, but not quite as dark and disturbing as some of her earlier ones. Perhaps because it was narrated by a stand-up comedian – so it was quite humorous!
I am currently reading Amy Liptrot’s The Outrun, which is not at all my style of book (I don’t usually like memoirs/creative non-fiction, as I tend to find them self-indulgent), but I’m quite enjoying it. Next book has got to be something from my Netgalley list, but not sure which of the three: Tana French ‘The Trespasser’ (but I still have to catch up with a few of her previous books) OR ‘Nineveh’ by Henrietta Rose-Innes, set in a sinister development on the fringes of Cape Town, OR Horowitz ‘Magpie Murders’ (which has only just come onto my shelf, but I can’t resist it). What do you think?